Birchbox Review – December 2013
I love that Birchbox switches up the packaging for their December boxes. (If you’re new to Birchbox, it’s one of the original beauty and makeup sample subscription boxes.)
I had to take a few photos of the festive packaging!
The Subscription Box: Birchbox
The Cost: $10 a month (get one month free with an annual subscription)
The Products: Beauty and lifestyle samples selected by the Birchbox team.
Ships to: US, France, Spain and the UK
Check out all of my Birchbox reviews and the Beauty Subscription Box Directory!
Each Birchbox comes with a card detailing the items included. Every box will have 4-5 items, and may have a lifestyle extra (indicated on the card).
Kusmi Tea Paris in BB Detox (2) – Value $1.50
Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk – 1.06 oz Value $6.50
These tea bags are my bonus lifestyle extra. A couple a months ago I would have complained about getting tea, but I recently made the switch from coffee to tea, so now it’s one of my favorite parts of any subscription box! I’m excited to try out this blend – I really like their rose green tea that I got to sample from another Birchbox.
I’ve received this Klorane dry shampoo from other boxes before, and I love it!
Secret Agent Beauty Nourishing & Plumping Lip Gloss in Foreign Intelligence Flirt – Deluxe Sample – Value $9
Camille Beckman Body Butter in Morelia Monarch Scent – .25 oz Value $1
This body butter sample is pretty tiny (hence my quarter in the photo to show scale), but it’s enough to get one use out of it and see if you like the scent. (It’s a little too strong for me).
Soothing Cream – 5 ml Value $6.50
Soothing Refiner & Cleanser – 5 ml – Value $2.30
Replenishing Scrub – 5 ml Value $2.80
Comforting Mask – 5 ml Value $3.80
Technically this set has a total value of about $15, and I may try out these samples, but I just hate foil packets!
Verdict: I paid $10 for this box and received $33 worth of items. It’s a great value, and I’ll use or try everything, but I was hoping the beauty samples would match the festive holiday packaging a little more. Maybe a glitter nail polish or another special occasion makeup item?
What did you get in your December Birchbox?
Written by Liz Cadman
I received a completely different box. I’m not loving my box, but so it goes with Birchbox, sometimes you love it and sometimes you don’t.
http://50thingsbeforeiturn50.com/2013/12/24/my-december-birchbox/
So my card listed everything yours did. But I didn’t get the body lotion. It just wasn’t there. I thought the screen thing might have been a replacement and I was mad about it, but now, seeing the item was the size of a quarter it doesn’t seem worth the effort.
I really loved my box this month. Although I wish I could have swapped the hair tie for the tea (I LOVE tea) or the pretzels.
My box of goodness contained:
Embryolisse – Lait – Creme Concentre (24-hour miracle cream) it’s a primer and a makeup remover in one
Harvey Prince : Hello (fragrance)
Manna Kadar Cosmetics – Sheer Glo in Birchbox Love
Number 4 – Non Aerosol Hairspray
Last but not least that dreaded hair tie : Twistband – Metallic Hair Tie
All in all a fun box 🙂
How do you determine which box number you got?
My Dec birchbox is the worst one I’ve ever gotten. I wish I could post a picture of the items….they are all less than an inch long, about a quarter inch wide, and one of them is a pretzel. A teeny, tiny pretzel. I am NOT resubscribing to BB for 2014. Instead I’m using the Living Social deal for GlossyBox at only $4 more than BB, per month! And the samples are deluxe and full size with GB!
Wow, I didnt realize there were so many different boxes. I have not been happy with my birchbox for a little while. I started Ipsy and have been very happy with that, so sticking to Ipsy.
My box arrived today and I could smell it before I even opened it. I opened it and it was crushed inside, had a tiny jar of polish without any label and it was all over everything else, gooey mess. Then I got the mascara, and a mousse for wavy hair, which I dont have , and the smell was from bath salts in MINT, whooooo very strong. Then I got one hair tie. Lots of your other boxes sounded better. Might be canceling this one, but its only 10$ so hard to give up. Very disappointed considering it was Holiday and all would think they would splurge a little.
It sounds as if I received a totally different box. I got Hair Rules Leave-In Conditioner, Borghese Brightening Make up (which I love), 2 samples sizes of Antica Farmacista Handcream, Phenome Rejuvenating Line Minimizer (sample size), a Hair Tie, and the screen cleaner. Really like the large size of the Brightening Makeup. I have short hair so the hair tie is useless to me.
My samples were the smallest EVER this month! One twist band and some teeny tiny maybe two use tubes of skincare products and lotion. I normally am Birch’s biggest fan but this month they really did not deliver. Why bother with the fancy box if it’s nothing special for the holidays??
Don’t feel bad, y’all, I live in NC and still haven’t gotten my box. I think I’m going to pause bb for a while and try ipsy, and I’m waiting for my first starbox!!
I’m on the waiting list for Ipsy and just subscribed to Glossybox so Birchbox was the easiest and quickest one to subscribe to! I was taken off the waiting list in 2 weeks and it came in about 4 days.
I didn’t fill out the profile (dumb moment) so they just sent me random stuff I guess but I was still very excited and happy to get anything! I got the Laqa Lip Pencil in Bossy Boots which I loved and the Toni and Guy spray which was also great for my curly hair! I also got an orange little hair tie which was cute and some fragrance sample but I hate perfume so I didn’t care for it. Last but not least I got a very very small sample of the Embryolisse Miracle Cream. Overall very happy with this month!
P.S Thank you for your wonderful website. I now have a slight obsession with monthly beauty boxes. Ah!
If you go into your IPSY account and share on facebook you can skip the wait list!
I received the same skincare foil sample pack, the No. 4 Hairspray, the same Secret Agent lip gloss, BeeKind body lotion (good sample size, nice smell), a chocolate-covered fortune cookie (delicious!). Also, did everyone else get the little “digimate” smartphone screen cleaner that sticks to the back of your phone and is reusable? I LOVE that little thing and wish I could find it somewhere to buy as gifts, but it seems to just be promotional. All-in-all, I liked my box. I’m rarely wowed with BB, but I always use everything or can easily gift what I get.
Ok just noticed the little cell phone screen cleaner! So cute…thanks for that. I didn’t even realize what it was lol
I wasn’t all that impressed with my birchbox. The mascara I received stuck to the brush and did nothing to my lashes, the body butter was in a foil packet and I got shampoo and conditioner AGAIN which I hate getting in boxes. Those tiny bottles are not enough for my thick, curly hair! The only thing I was excited about was the chocolate.
I think this will be my last birchbox until they get a women’s version of the men’s lifestyle box :/
A women’s version of the men’s lifestyle box would be amazing – here’s hoping that happens in 2014! 🙂
I’m still waiting on my box. Received shipping notice around the 5th, and the box was SUPPOSED to be delivered on the 10th. Still nothing. Not happy. I’ll probably end up cancelling.
I’ve yet to receive my box (sad side effect of living on the west coast), though I already know what’s inside it! And I didn’t want a single thing in it… so I’m doing a full box trade with someone to get the box I wanted. XD Originally I had box #23 and I’m trading to get box #3. 🙂
I live in the west coast and got my box last week.
What??? Seriously? I always get my box on the 18th. 🙁
I have been wanting to try Kumsi teas but they are so expensive! Let me know if the blend is good!
I love Kusmi tea. I bought the I <3 My Detox tea from Birchbox and it is actually pretty tasty! I feel better drinking it and was so glad it tasted good because I was worried. Im itching to buy the rose green tea.. and you're right.. they're very expensive!
I also bought the Miyu De-Stress Beauty tea from Birchbox. That one just tastes weird and has a bad after taste. I feel like it leaves a film in the mouth feeling.
Annnd I bought several of the Ahmad teas that Birchbox features in those cute tins, and those are so yummy. The English Afternoon tea is my favorite tea pretty much ever, the tins are adorable, and they are inexpensive.
Thanks for the Birchbox tea advice. I’m going to need to try the English Afternoon tea. My favorite from them so far is the Runa Cinnamon Lemongrass tea. If you’re looking for a caffeinated tea – it’s the best!
I got this box a while ago. I actually thought I missed your review of December’s box. This is what I received:
-Eslor Skincare system: I like that it gives you a sample of each of their treatments, but packets?
-Number 4 Non-Aerosol spray: I don’t really use hair spray, but it’s a decent size sample.
-Supergoop! CC cream: Again? I feel like I have gotten these teeny-tiny samples of this cream from BB before.
-The Honest Company Organic Healing Balm: YAY! I love this sample of Honest company’s cream. It’s size is great and really needed for my winter dry skin.
-Bonus item: Fatty Sunday Chocolate covered pretzel. This reminds me of the totally awesome PopSugar Must Have Holiday Edition box!
I would totally be down on this box if it wasn’t for the Honest Company’s sample.